President of Westminster Seminary California (and Alliance council member) W. Robert Godfrey has written a book on Genesis 1 in the spirit of John Calvin, which is to say, it is nothing more than a brief and clear exposition of the text. Godfrey is clearly convinced that the contemporary debate among conservatives over creation is a problem that can best be solved by allowing God’s Word to both ask and answer the important questions. The body of this text runs just over eighty pages, and after an historical introduction, is composed of only three chapters: the first three days of creation, the final four days, and the message of Genesis 1. In the space of approximately seventy pages of exegesis, lay readers are confronted with the simple message of the biblical text, and most readers will probably be shocked at how much of its message has been garbled by overfamiliarity and polemical abuse. Helpful appendices set forth Calvin’s own reading of the text, summarize the Reformed confessions on creation, and contextualize the Westminster standards on this point.
No doubt some embroiled in contemporary creation debates will see this book as just one more datum to be incorporated into running arguments. But fair readers will see this as a fine piece of biblical scholarship written by a nonexpert for a nonexpert audience. The result is a faithful meditation on Scripture’s witness to God’s work of creation that is edifying for all and required reading for those wishing to broaden their understanding of Genesis 1.
